To think blue eyes are both a blessing and a curse

[Lewishamsally]

Blessing: Nations and western worlds favourite eye colour.

Curse: I forgot my sunglasses on a day out with dc and I could barely see in the sun. (Probably added about a million wrinkles around the eye ).

[AllKnickersNoFurCoat]

This difference must be minimal though. When you look around, you don't see the blue eyed people wearing sun glasses and the brown eyed people able to stare straight ahead. It might be something that a scientist could measure. but you're not going to get two friends walking at the same time of day in the same sun light, the blue eyed one needing sun glasses and the brown eyed one saying 'no i'm fine!'

[HellKitty]

I'm blue/green eyed, my eyes are very sensitive in the sun. Playing rounders as a child at school was awful. I'd just stand with my arms out and eyes shut to catch the ball

DP thinks my eyes are lovely but 'intense' and 'fucking scary' when I'm angry.

As for hair, my DS1 was followed around by a helper at a museum who went on and on about how lovely his hair colour is. It's bog standard dark brown, never understood that.

[Karoleann]

People with blue eyes do tend to be more slight sensitive as they tend to have less retinal pigment to absorb stray light and therefore get more light scatter.
It's this lack of pigment in albinism that causes the very severe sensitivity to light.

Blue eyed people are also more likely to get a condition called macula degeneration and there is also some link with earlier development of cataracts.

I like having blue eyes too - I'm not sure if its the most attractive colour, but DH and all the DC have blue eyes so I'm slightly biased. I've seen lots and lots of eyes in my job (I'm an Optometrist) and they're all fascinating.

[Rainbunny]

I desperately wish I looked good as a brunette! I am naturally mousy dark blond/light brown - absolutely the worst colour hair imo. I tried different shades of brown hair for a decade but I just looked washed out and pasty faced. I actually loved being a fake redhead for a while. Very high maintenance & expensive to keep up though. I am now a "fake" blond, which I don't really care for but it turns out it suits my skin tone best and it's fairly easy to maintain.

[AllKnickersNoFurCoat]

i don't think blue eyes are considered attractive. There are too many of them.

I know what the PP means about some blonde (women) behaving as though they're universally envied. I would recognise any woman's beauty without fawning over it, but in my part of the world blondes aren't quite rare enough for me to think an averagely good looking blonde has won some genetic lottery over a particularly good looking brown haired person.

[justownit]

jacobsmuum

Dss has very blue eyes and wears sunglasses when it's sunny.

Of course. Nobody of any other eye colour wears sunglasses when it's sunny

I assume that what the op was trying to say was that blue eyes are widely considered attractive in Britain and other western countries.

I think we all got that!

I don't see the OP as racist at all.
Go figures.

[JacobsMuuum1972]

Dss has very blue eyes and wears sunglasses when it's sunny.

I assume that what the op was trying to say was that blue eyes are widely considered attractive in Britain and other western countries.

I don't see the OP as racist at all.

[chocolateyay]

I like very bluey eyes - not the pale blue/ grey ones as they look cold and dead fish-like.

My mum had, and one sister has very deep blue eyes (mum was a blonde and sis is auburn) - very nice but not the first thing you would notice about them. The kids in out family cover all variations of colour!

On optician told me that green eyes was the most sensitive...or maybe it was people with red hair who have sensitive eyes. I forget which.

[Fluffyears]

Everyone loves 'puppy dog eyes' which are velvety brown. There you go case closed.

[nooka]

My dd was in fact blonde and blue eyed as a little girl, and very cute and adorable she was too. She wouldn't like to be described like that now, but I think she is pretty striking with her green/gold eyes and brown/whatever coloured streaks she is currently into hair. Although apparently my opinion doesn't count on these matters as I am way too biased!

[ItsRainingInBaltimore]

you could almost time your watch by when she would mention that she was a 'natural blond'! She used to constantly fish for compliments on her blond blue eyedness and would make out that everyone wanted her attributes and that she was always being hassled because of them.

I know exactly what you mean - some people do seem to think the somehow won some sort of genetic lottery by being blonde and blue eyed and assume that everyone else is secretly jealous. I've seen some stunningly beautiful blue eyed blondes, but then I've seen an awful lot of plain and average looking ones as well. The idea/assumption that being blonde and blue eyed is in itself enough be considered attractive by default is completely laughable. I have never hankered after being blue eyed or blonde in my life and apart from Sienna Miller who is insanely pretty, all my fantasy/girl crush type women I might like to look like in my next life are always dark haired or redheads.

[fatlazymummy]

I know some people consider blonde hair more attractive, but I've never really heard the blue eye thing. Plenty of blondes have brown eyes.
Even blond hair is overrated nowadays. Most people have the option of dying our hair blond , and most of us don't. I know a young woman who died her natural blonde hair dark brown (and looked much better for it, IMO).

[Whatthefucknameisntalreadytake]

Nooka, I don't think things have changed that much, at least in the perception of children, my friends 5 yr old announced the other day that you have to have blond hair and blue eyes to be pretty, and all the brunette princesses don't count as proper princesses because they aren't blond.

[Lucy61]

*this is all wrong, of course....

[Lucy61]

Op, a valuable lesson in life is to never make assumptions about what everyone else thinks, it never ends well. I get what you were trying to say: rightly or wrongly in the western world, there is a bias towards blue eyes and blonde hair. Just like a pp mentioned that fair skin and light eyes are preferred in her community. I am black British and in my community, Iight brown skin and lose curls are considered beautiful.
This all of course wrong and should be challenged. I wouldn't go as far as calling it racism but it's definitely prejudiced.
Lewisham- I knew you'd be a daily mail reader. You can just tell!

[nooka]

I'm one of those people I tend to say my eyes are green as that's the dominant colour, although the amber ring in the centre sometimes is stronger (either dark or quite bright depending on the light).

Sometimes hazel is described as mixed though.

[nooka]

The blond/blue eyed beauty thing was I think common enough when my dd was little because I remember her telling me that you could only be a princess if you were blond/had blue eyes. It was the disney/barbie norm at the time - perhaps that has changed in the last ten years (dd is now into anime, where people have all sorts of crazy hair/eye combos).

I can see that pale eyes could be problematic with the sun, but would assume that was true for pale grey and green eyes too. It's not something I've observed particularly.

Personally I like dark eyes the best, but I like strong features in general (possibly because I am very shortsighted and without contrast faces just blur when I've not got my glasses on).

[OhtoblazeswithElvira]

When I went to Northern Russia I met a young man from Mali. He said that srangers in the street used to approach him and ask to feel his skin and hair as they had never seen someone like him. He found it very amusing.

[JazzAnnNonMouse]

Cactus - they did want to touch it but not to admire it, just because it was so different to their own hair. It was more a novelty.

[JazzAnnNonMouse]

When I was 10 I went to Kenya and the kids in the village we went to were fascinate with my long (below bum) length blonde hair. Someone translated that the adults had nicknamed me 'walking banana' which I thought was hilarious

[Rainbunny]

Capricorn - I had a colleague who thought herself to be gorgeous. She did have long naturally blond hair but honestly her face was truly very plain. She was an unpleasant, bitchy person and consequently was not liked by any other women in our office. I worked closely with her so I had to tolerate her more. She knew the other women disliked her and she was convinced it was a jealousy thing because she was so much more attractive than everyone else...

[Capricorn76]

I know CactusAnnie it's a kind of weird isn't it?

I had a friend who was weirdly obsessed with being a 'natural blond'. She mentioned it all the time to the point that when she was single and met guys, if you could overhear the conversation, you could almost time your watch by when she would mention that she was a 'natural blond'! She used to constantly fish for compliments on her blond blue eyedness and would make out that everyone wanted her attributes and that she was always being hassled because of them. However, I think she was insecure and from my observations although she did get some male attention, facially she was a bit plain compared to my friend of Southern European heritage who was naturally stunning and would almost be fighting men off. The other friend never went on about her dark hair or eyes either.

I did feel kind of sorry for the blond friend as she told me her dad used to tell her she was better than others because she was a blue eyed blond so she kind of internalised it. I think the media also reinforces the blond hair blue eyed thing so I guess it can't be helped that some people no matter how plain or out of shape they are think that just because they have blond hair and blue eyes that they're automatically or think others automatically believe they're more attractive or should be admired more than people with different colour hair or eyes. It's just hair and eye colouring and has no bearing on overall attractiveness. It's a really strange cultural phenomenon.

[drudgetrudy]

If blue eyes really are more vulnerable to sun damage etc I can't see why they would be regarded as a "blessing" in any way.